Dan's NBA League Pass Blast

This will be a new mostly weekly feature where I tell you about the things I’m seeing in the NBA. I see a lot of things, because I have the NBA League Pass subscription, and if I’m home, I’d rather be watching an NBA game than anything else on TV. Plus I’m nerdy and opinionated.

It’s a great week to start, what with just about every team in the league playing on MLK Day. So let’s get right to it:

- It’s a shame the Detroit-Orlando game wasn’t on national TV instead of Miami-Cleveland. That was a much better-played, more entertaining game. Orlando again showed that they can play with any of the elite teams in the league right now. If you follow the league even casually, you already know Dwight Howard is putting up Moses Malone-like numbers this year (by the way, is there a more under-appreciated Hall of Fame player than Moses Malone? I say no. Prove me wrong.) But did you know how well Hedo Turkoglu is playing this year? Let me tell you: 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 38 minutes a night, 16.4 PER. He’s as important to the success of this team as anyone, especially in the fourth quarter of games, where he can create shots off the dribble, and he can pass well. I’ve seen him take over games in the fourth quarter at least three times this year, and he did it again against Detroit (even though it was Rashard Lewis that hit the game winning shot.)

- Mike Conley Jr. is finally showing everyone why he was drafted so high. And by “everyone” I mean the tens of people who actually watch Memphis Grizzlies games. He got hurt earlier in the year, but he’s been playing great in January, taking all of Damon Stoudamire’s minutes. His season averages are 12 points and 7 assists, which ain’t bad for a rookie. Memphis is a bad team (again, despite some great young talent) and they won’t be on national TV much. But it looks like sooner rather than later there’s going to be another young point guard to mention along with Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

- I don’t really get the point of the Miami Heat right now. What are they supposed to be? What was the plan to have this be a good team at any point this year? I respect Pat Riley and all, but someone needs to explain this to me. Meanwhile, I am starting to feel bad for Dwyane Wade, and not just because his name is spelled wrong and he can’t get in Barkley’s five.

- I also don’t get the point of the Indiana Pacers. But I do like the way Danny Granger plays. 17pt, 6reb, 15.3 PER, and he has to share the floor with Mike Dunleavy, which can’t help anyone.

- Everyone says about Isiah, “Well, he does know how to draft.” In this case, I would like to draw your attention to Renaldo Balkman and Mardy Collins. Renaldo is a decent player, but here are some other players they could have drafted instead: Rajon Rondo, Kyle Lowry, Jordan Farmar, Paul Milsap. I’m not saying, but I’m just saying. And not mentioning that the jury is still out on Wilson Chandler, and that jury is not looking too smiley at the moment.

- I seem to end up watching Sacramento Kings games a lot, and oddly enough I’m rarely disappointed that I did. I have no reasonable explanation for this, considering that they’re not a good team by any measure (except for in the ‘surly looking guy with dreadlocks’ category, which is won by the team that employs Mikki Moore.) On the other hand, I rarely ever watch Milwaukee Bucks games. I have a perfectly reasonable explanation for this – they are virtually unwatchable. Their offense is slow (they rank 20th in pace, 19th in efficiency) and there isn’t one of those dynamic guys, like say a Gerald Wallace, that will want to make you pay attention even for a few minutes just to see if something get-out-of-your-seat worthy happens. If I was a Packers fan, and realized that this is all I had to look forward to all winter after that crushing loss to the Giants, and then I further realized that I actually lived in Wisconsin, I’d be pretty bummed out.


That’s it for the first blast. Stay tuned for more, and, as always, tell us what you think in the comments. Even if what you think is shockingly dumb, tell us, so we can mock you, and educate you, all at once.